John 10:34
in John 10Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
KJV
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
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This verse in John 10
Commentary
20 notes on this verseA commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments) · Written before 444.
I said, Ye are gods, ... Since therefore the Father called certain men gods, and of necessity the honourable name was something external, super-added to them, for He Who is God by Nature is One only; lest Jesus also should be deemed to be one |104 of that class----clothed in the glory of the Godhead, not as essentially His own, but rather as something external, super-added to Himself, in the same way as was the case with those others----He as a matter of necessity clearly distinguishes Himself from them.
This site's exposition
I have said you are gods
on John 10:34-36
The quotation is Psalm 82:6, where Israel's judges are called elohim as men holding an authority given them by God. The argument runs from lesser to greater: if that word stood over judges, the One the Father sanctified and sent speaks within His right.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
(Tract. xlviii) i. e. the Law given to you, I have said, Ye are Gods? (Ps. 82:6) God saith this by the Prophet in the Psalm. Our Lord calls all those Scriptures the Law generally, though elsewhere He spiritually distinguishes the Law from the Prophets. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matt. 22:40) In another place He makes a threefold division of the Scriptures; All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me. (Luke 24:44) Now He calls the Psalms the Law, and thus argues from them; If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, say ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? (Tract. xlviii) Or sanctified, i. e. in begetting, gave Him holiness, begat Him holy. If men to whom the word of God came were called gods, much more the Word of God Himself is God. If men by partaking of the word of God were made gods, much more is the Word of which they partake, God.
But see what answer the Lord gave to their dull apprehension. He saw that they could not bear the brilliance of the truth, and He tempered it with words. "Is it not written in your law," that is, as given to you, "that I said, Ye are gods?" And the Lord called all the Scriptures generally, the law. "If He calleth them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken: say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world. Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" If the word of God came to men, that they might be called gods, how can the very Word of God, who is with God, be otherwise than God? If by the word of God men become gods, if by fellowship they become gods, can He by whom they have fellowship not be God? If lights which are lit are gods, is the light which enlighteneth not God? If through being warmed in a way by saving fire they are constituted gods, is He who gives them the warmth other than God?
A commentator
Hippolytus of RomeHippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book 5 · Written before 235.
proposed
This, he says, is ocean, "generation of gods and generation of men" ever whirled round by the eddies of water, at one time upwards, at another time downwards. But he says there ensues a generation of men when the ocean flows downwards; but when upwards to the wall and fortress and the cliff of Luecas, a generation of gods takes place. This, he asserts, is that which has been written: "I said, Ye are gods, and all children of the highest; " "If ye hasten to fly out of Egypt, and repair beyond the Red Sea into the wilderness," that is, from earthly intercourse to the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of the living; "If, moreover, again you return into Egypt," that is, into earthly intercourse, "ye shall die as men." For mortal, he says, is every generation below, but immortal that which is begotten above, for it is born of water only, and of spirit, being spiritual, not carnal. But what (is born) below is carnal, that is, he says, what is written. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." This, according to them, is the spiritual generation. This, he says, is the great Jordan which, flowing on (here) below, and preventing the children of Israel from departing out of Egypt-I mean from terrestrial intercourse, for Egypt is with them the body,-Jesus drove back, and made it flow upwards.
A commentator
Hippolytus of RomeHippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book X · Written before 235.
proposed
You shall escape the boiling flood of hell's eternal lake of fire and the eye ever fixed in menacing glare of fallen angels chained in Tartarus as punishment for their sins; and you shall escape the worm that ceaselessly coils for food around the body whose scum has bred it. Now such (torments) as these shall thou avoid by being instructed in a knowledge of the true God. And thou shalt possess an immortal body, even one placed beyond the possibility of corruption, just like the soul. And thou shalt receive the kingdom of heaven, thou who, whilst thou didst sojourn in this life, didst know the Celestial King. And thou shalt be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease. For thou hast become God: for whatever sufferings thou didst undergo while being a man, these He gave to thee, because thou wast of mortal mould, but whatever it is consistent with God to impart, these God has promised to bestow upon thee, because thou hast been deified, and begotten unto immortality. This constitutes the import of the proverb, "Know thyself; "i.e., discover God within thyself, for He has formed thee after His own image. For with the knowledge of self is conjoined the being an object of God's knowledge, for thou art called by the Deity Himself. Be not therefore inflamed, O ye men, with enmity one towards another, nor hesitate to retrace with all speed your steps. For Christ is the God above all, and He has arranged to wash away sin from human beings, rendering regenerate the old man. And God called man His likeness from the beginning, and has evinced in a figure His love towards thee. And provided thou obeyest His solemn injunctions, and becomest a faithful follower of Him who is good, thou shall resemble Him, inasmuch as thou shall have honour conferred upon thee by Him. […]
This Spirit, (according to the apostle's showing, ) meant not that the service of these gifts should be in the body, nor did He place them in the human body); and on the subject of the superiority of love above all these gifts, He even taught the apostle that it was the chief commandment, just as Christ has shown it to be: "Thou shalt love the Lord with all thine heart and soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thine own self." When he mentions the fact that "it is written in the law," how that the Creator would speak with other tongues and other lips, whilst confirming indeed the gift of tongues by such a mention, he yet cannot be thought to have affirmed that the gift was that of another god by his reference to the Creator's prediction.
13 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
CyprianTreatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. · Written before 258.
proposed
That Christ is God. In Genesis: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, and go up to the place of Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to that God who appeared unto thee when thou reddest from the face of thy brother Esau." Also in Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Sabaoth, Egypt is wearied; and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the tall men of the Sabeans, shall pass over unto Thee, and shall be Thy servants; and shall walk after Thee bound with chains; and shall worship Thee, and shall pray to Thee, because God is in Thee, and there is no other God beside Thee. For Thou art God, and we knew it not, O God of Israel, our Saviour. They shall all be confounded and fear who oppose Thee, and shall fall into confusion." Likewise in the same: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every channel shall be filled up, and every mountain and bill shall be made low, and all crooked places shall be made straight, and rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be seen, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, because the Lord hath spoken it." Moreover, in Jeremiah: This is our God, and no other shall be esteemed beside Him, who hath found all the way of knowledge, and hath given it to Jacob His son, and to Israel His beloved. After this He was seen upon earth, and He conversed with men." Also in Zechariah God says: "And they shall cross over through the narrow sea, and they shall smite the waves in the sea, and they shall dry up all the depths of the rivers; and all the haughtiness of the Assyrians shall be confounded, and the sceptre of Egypt shall be taken away. […]
When they said, "For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou being a man makest thyself God"; hear His answer; "If the Scripture called them gods unto whom the word of God came, how say ye that I blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God?" What He saith is of this kind: "If those who have received this honor by grace, are not found fault with for calling themselves gods, how can He who hath this by nature deserve to be rebuked?" Yet He spake not so, but proved it at a later time, having first relaxed and yielded somewhat in His discourse, and said, "Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent." And when He had softened their anger, He bringeth forward the plain assertion. For a while, that His speech might be received, He spoke in a humbler strain, but afterwards He raised it higher...
(Hom. lxi. 2) Our Lord did not correct the Jews, as if they misunderstood His speech, but confirmed and defended it, in the very sense in which they had taken it. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
The Medieval Church3 voices
"Jesus answered them." Here his prudent self-defense is noted, in which the Lord shows that he did not blaspheme, by a twofold testimony, namely of the Scriptures and of works. By the testimony of the Scriptures thus: Scripture calls "gods" those to whom God has …
Here our Lord defends himself against the charge of blasphemy. First, he gives his defense; secondly, he shows them the truth (v 37). He defends himself by divine authority, and so first, he mentions the authority of Scripture; secondly, he explains its meaning; and thirdly, …
He calls the book of David "Law," as indeed all of Scripture.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If he (God) called them gods unto whom the word of God came, (that is, to whom God was then speaking,) and the Scripture cannot be broken - That is, nothing which is written therein can be censured or rejected.
Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
Is it not written in your law - The words which our Lord quotes are taken from Psa 82:6, which shows that, under the word law, our Lord comprised the Jewish sacred writings in general. See also Joh 12:34; Joh 15:25. Ye are gods? - That is, judges, who are called אלהים elohim. That judges are here meant appears from Psa 82:2, etc., and also from what follows here. And this is probably the only place where the word אלהים is applied to any but the true God. See Parkhurst under the root אלה.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
We should observe, in these verses, the extreme wickedness of human nature. The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem was neither moved by our Lord's miracles, nor by His preaching. They were determined not to receive Him as their Messiah. Once more it is written that "they took up stones to stone Him." Our Lord had done the Jews no injury. He was no robber, murderer, or rebel against the law of the land. He was one whose whole life was love, and who "went about doing good." (Acts 10:38.) There was no fault or inconsistency in His character.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It is never said of Christ that "the word of the Lord came to Him"; whereas this is the well-known formula by which the divine commission, even to the highest of mere men, is expressed, as John the Baptist (Lu 3:2).
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
We should observe, in these verses, the extreme wickedness of human nature. The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem was neither moved by our Lord's miracles, nor by His preaching. They were determined not to receive Him as their Messiah. Once more it is written that "they took up stones to stone Him." Our Lord had done the Jews no injury. He was no robber, murderer, or rebel against the law of the land. He was one whose whole life was love, and who "went about doing good." (Acts 10:38.) There was no fault or inconsistency in His character. There was no crime that could be laid to His charge. So perfect and spotless a man had never walked on the face of this earth. But yet the Jews hated Him, and thirsted for His blood. How true are the words of Scripture—"They hated Him without a cause." (John 15:25.) How just the remark of an old divine—"Unconverted men would kill God Himself if they could only get at Him." The true Christian has surely no right to wonder if he meets with the same kind of treatment as our blessed Lord. In fact, the more like he is to his Master, and the more holy and spiritual his life, the more probable is it that he will have to endure hatred and persecution. Let him not suppose that any degree of consistency will deliver him from this cross. It is not his faults, but his graces, which call forth the enmity of men. The world hates to see anything of God's image. The children of the world are vexed and pierced in conscience when they see others better than themselves. Why did Cain hate his brother Abel, and slay him? "Because," says John, "his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." (1 John 3:12.) Why did the Jews hate Christ? Because He exposed their sins and false doctrines; and they knew in their own hearts that he was right and they were wrong.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Jesus answered them - The answer of Jesus consists of two parts. The first Joh 10:34-36 shows that they ought not to object to his use of the word God, even if he were no more than a man. The second Joh 10:37-38 repeats substantially what he had before said, left the same impression, and in proof of it he appealed to his works. Joh 10:34 In your law - Psa 82:6. The word “law” here, is used to include the Old Testament. I said - The Psalmist said, or God said by the Psalmist. Ye are gods - This was said of magistrates on account of the dignity and honor of their office, and it shows that the Hebrew word translated “god,” אלהים ̀elohiym, in that place might be applied to man. Such a use of the word is, however, rare. See instances in Exo 7:1; Exo 4:16. Joh 10:35 Unto whom the word of God came - That is, who were his servants, or who received their dignity and honor only because the law of God was intrusted to them. “The Word of God” here means the command of God; his commission to them to do justice. The scripture cannot be broken - See Mat 5:19. The authority of the Scripture is final; it cannot be set aside. The meaning is, “If, therefore, the Scripture uses the word “god” אלהים ̀elohiym as applied to magistrates, it settles the question that it is right to apply the term to those in office and authority. If applied to them, it may be to others in similar offices. It cannot, therefore, be blasphemy to use this word as applicable to a personage so much more exalted than mere magistrates as the Messiah.” Joh 10:36 Whom the Father hath sanctified - The word “sanctify” with us means to make holy; but this is not its meaning here, for the Son of God was always holy. The original word means to set apart from a common to a sacred use; to devote to a sacred purpose, and to designate or consecrate to a holy office. This is the meaning here. […]
How the passage was read
On John 10:22-39On John 10:22-39
The feast Jesus was keeping
“The Feast of Dedication” is the festival modern Jews call Hanukkah: an eight-day winter feast, beginning on the 25th of the month Kislev (falling in December), that remembers the cleansing and rededication of the Temple in 164 BC. Antiochus IV, the Greek-Syrian king, had defiled the altar; Judas Maccabeus and his brothers retook Jerusalem, rebuilt the altar, and ordained the annual celebration (1 Maccabees 4:36–59). Today it is kept by lighting one more candle each night on a nine-branched lampstand, which is why it is also called the Festival of Lights; the lamp-lighting custom is discussed in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b).
Two things follow for the reader. This feast is not commanded anywhere in the Law of Moses: it was instituted between the Testaments, and John records Jesus walking in the Temple courts during it without a word of censure. And the setting is loaded: at the feast that celebrates the Temple's rescue from a ruler who claimed divine honors, the crowd asks Jesus plainly whether He is the Messiah (John 10:24).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: 1 Maccabees 4:36–59 (the feast's institution; studied on this site) · Shabbat 21b (Babylonian Talmud, the lamp-lighting custom) · The Maccabean Revolt (this site's study of the history)
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἀπεκρίθη | apekrithe | Answered | G611 → | 231 times |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | to them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰησοῦς· | iesous | Jesus; | G2424 → | 908 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | Surely | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔστιν | estin | it is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| γεγραμμένον | gegrammenon | written | G1125 → | 189 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| νόμῳ | nomo | law | G3551 → | 192 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἐγὼ | ego | I myself | G1473 → | 839 times |
| εἶπα· | eipa | said: | G2036 → | 925 times |
| θεοί | theoi | gods | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ἐστε; | este | you are’? | G1510 → | 2333 times |
ἈπεκρίθηAnswered
apekritheG611 →231 times
αὐτοῖςto them
autoisG846 →5565 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
Ἰησοῦς·Jesus;
iesousG2424 →908 times
οὐκSurely
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔστινit is
estinG1510 →2333 times
γεγραμμένονwritten
gegrammenonG1125 →189 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
νόμῳlaw
nomoG3551 →192 times
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἐγὼI myself
egoG1473 →839 times
εἶπα·said:
eipaG2036 →925 times
θεοίgods
theoiG2316 →1312 times
ἐστε;you are’?
esteG1510 →2333 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 7:1The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
it leads to
- Psalms 82:6
I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 4:15–16
You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
- John 10:35–36
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
- Psalms 82:6
Through
Psalms 82:1God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
it leads to
- John 10:35
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
- 2 Chronicles 19:6–7
Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment.
- Psalms 82:6–7
I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’
- Isaiah 3:13
The LORD arises to contend; He stands to judge the people.
- John 10:35
Through
Psalms 138:1I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises.
it leads to
- Psalms 111:1
Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
- Psalms 111:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies35
On this verse
On this chapter
- The Animal Apocalypse
- Hanukkah: the Feast the Revolt Made
- The Apocrypha
- The Major Prophets
- David
- Eternal Life
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- Eternal Security, and the Five Warnings of Hebrews
- The Fall Feasts
- The Words Tov and Agathosyne
- Hearing God
- Jesus on Salvation
- The Jordan
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Show the next 6 titles
About John
This page draws on 20 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 48; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 10; Cyprian, Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews.; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments); Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of John; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book 5; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies Book X; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 61; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.